There are many instances in which battery cells, or battery modules, are serially connected in a bank or banks to provide a higher voltage than otherwise available. Unfortunately, the condition of the bank of cells as a whole is dependent upon the condition of individual cells or modules, and it is well known that in order to detect and locate a deteriorating one of these, individual measurements must be made at the cell or module level. As an example, where there is a bank voltage of 126 volts, it might be in the form of ten 12.6-volt lead acid batteries. In such case, condition measurements would typically require that each individual 12-volt battery be subject to measurement, which would necessitate the wiring harness extending from each battery back to the point of instrumentation making the measurement, and wherein there would be a wire for each terminal, or, in this case, a total of 11 wires. This has been regarded as quite cumbersome.
It is an object of this invention to eliminate all but two of the wires and at the same time eliminate the necessity for switching between battery modules in order to make individual measurements.